large, heavy, or clumsy objects or people, or the abandoned shells of ships that are no longer seaworthy.
From Middle Dutch 'hulk,' originally referring to the hull or body of a ship. The term evolved to describe anything large and unwieldy, especially the decaying remains of vessels that were sometimes used as floating prisons.
In the 1800s, Britain actually used old ship hulks as floating prisons on the Thames River—they were horrible conditions! So 'hulk' went from meaning a ship's structure to meaning something that's falling apart and dangerous.
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